Latest News

May 15, 2020

Stunning timelapse footage of significant progress on the much anticipated Horgan’s Quay mixed-use development in Cork. With construction of the Dean Hotel in the foreground and the Activate funded first commercial block in the background, Horgan’s Quay promises to transform this part of Cork’s docklands. The commercial block is expected to be complete and open…

April 9, 2020

Activate Capital is delighted to be partnering with Round Hill Capital in funding the delivery of a 145-bed purpose-built student accommodation scheme in Cork City. Further information on the scheme is included in the link below: Curraheen Point Student Accommodation

April 2, 2020

Since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, Activate Capital has been fully supportive of our customers, is operating as per normal, while adhering to public health restrictions and has had the opportunity to engage deeply with the marketplace. It is very encouraging to see and learn from our customers’ proactive business leadership and management of…

February 20, 2020

Activate Capital is proud to partner with Bartra in funding the delivery of an apartment scheme in Stoneybatter, Dublin 7, with the entire development to be leased to Dublin City Council under the Enhanced Long Term Social Housing Leasing Scheme. Further information is included in the link below: Bartra Social Housing Scheme

January 3, 2020

Activate Capital is partnering with Murnane & O’Shea in providing funding to support the construction of 350 new houses at Heathfield, Ballincollig, Cork. Further information is included in the link below: Activate Supports Ballincollig New Home Development

December 6, 2019

Activate Capital is delighted to announce the appointment of Margaret Fleming to its Board of Directors. Margaret has worked as an International Director with real estate advisors JLL Ireland over a 30-year career. In her role in JLL Capital Markets, she has managed investment property transactions and provided strategic and asset management advice. “We are…

December 2, 2019

Activate is delighted to be partnering with McGarrell Reilly in delivering grade-A office space for Amazon’s EMEA headquarters. The scheme, known as Charlemont Square, will have c. 350,000 sq.ft. of commercial space and in excess of 250 apartments when complete. Amazon has agreed to let c. 170,000 sq.ft. of office space in what will be…

November 22, 2019

Although Boris Johnson’s government has concluded a Brexit withdrawal agreement with the EU, there’s no certainty that this deal will ultimately receive UK parliamentary approval, especially given the General Election on 12 December. As with all sectors of the Irish economy, the Irish homebuilding industry is vulnerable to the impact of Brexit, given the quantum…

October 18, 2019

Activate Capital are excited to support the launch of Churchlands, Delgany, Co. Wicklow. Churchlands is a new home development by Wood Group Homes, which consists of 3 & 4 bed family homes, in scenic Delgany. Prospective purchasers can register their interest at www.churchlandsdelgany.ie View a full animation of the Churchlands development in the below video.

October 16, 2019

Last month, Burkeway Homes, commenced work on its new 6 acre site located on the Letteragh Road, Rahoon on the outskirts of Galway city. It is an ideal location within easy commuting distance by car, bicycle or on foot to UHG, NUIG, Salthill and Galway city centre. Phase One of this impressive new development will…

October 4, 2019

€75m Lusk Village Quarter launched New Village Quarter to include Lidl supermarket, shops, café, restaurants, public square, green area, playground and 150 new homes McGarrell Reilly has today launched plans for the new €75m Lusk Village Quarter in Lusk, Co. Dublin, unveiling details for the delivery of exciting new amenities for the local community including…

June 22, 2019

Significant progress on the vertical construction of McGarrell Reilly’s Charlemont Square mixed-use development in the heart of Dublin City – on completion, the development will consist of 250 apartments and in excess of 200,000 sq.ft. of grade-A office accommodation. Activate Capital is delighted to be partnering with McGarrell Reilly on delivery of such a prestigious scheme, which promises…

June 4, 2019

Activate Capital is delighted to be sponsoring Property Race Day Ireland in Leopardstown Racecourse on Thursday 13th of June. This is a unique event which brings together over 450 of Ireland’s leading property, investment and financial leaders for an evening of horse racing, entertainment and fun. To date, Property Race Day Ireland has raised over…

April 12, 2019

Some interesting commentary on the emerging build-to-rent asset class in Ireland by leading real estate advisory firm, CBRE. CBRE’s Head of Research Marie Hunt notes that: “The volume of international capital looking to deploy in the Build-To-Rent sector in Dublin is at an all-time high, which in turn is putting pressure on prime yields, which have now hardened to a…

April 9, 2019

Great promotional video by McGarrell Reilly Homes for their new homes development: Millerstown, Maynooth Road, Kilcock. Activate Capital is delighted to be funding this exciting scheme of family homes located in Kilcock overlooking the River Rye and the Royal Canal.

January 14, 2019

Activate Capital is delighted to be working with Burkeway Homes on the delivery of over 300 new homes in the Galway area. Activate Capital is providing Burkeway Homes with site and construction finance on 3 residential sites. Breacán is a small development of 15 quality 3 and 4 bed homes at Letteragh Road, Rahoon, Galway, which is due for…

December 5, 2018

Some great drone footage from a sample of development sites being funded by Activate Capital. The footage includes new housing sites in Dublin and Cork, together with a significant residentially-led mixed-use development in Dublin city centre. Activate is currently funding 38 sites, the development of which will accommodate in excess of 5,000 new homes over…

November 8, 2018

The elite athletes (!) from the Activate team took to the streets of Dublin last night to participate in the Run in the Dark event to raise money for the Mark Pollock Trust, a movement working towards curing paralysis.

October 4, 2018

We’re delighted to be funding Twinlite as it commences construction on a significant rental apartment scheme in Clongriffin, Dublin 13. Activate is providing site and construction finance to Twinlite for this build-to-rent scheme, which, on completion, will accommodate up to 700 residents.

September 28, 2018

We’re delighted to be funding The Willows, Dunshaughlin with Gem Group, having just launched the next phase of its successful development. Some great drone footage of the development and its local environs in this clip.

September 27, 2018

Activate Capital is excited to be working with Alanna Homes on its recently launched new homes development, Ardsolus, Brownsbarn, Co. Dublin. This is an exclusive scheme of 60 three and four bed houses located within close proximity to the Luas Red Line, N7, M50 and Dublin Bus routes. Some great drone footage of the development…

September 7, 2018

We’re delighted to be funding this unique development of townhouses and duplexes/apartments with Homeland Investments. Camberley Mews is located in the heart of Churchtown, Dublin 14 and is for sale through DNG New Homes.

July 4, 2018

Activate Capital to grow to €1bn with additional fundraising. ISIF and KKR commit an additional €270 million. Home builders “materially stepping up production” in Ireland. Activate Capital (“Activate”), the dedicated residential development lender, today announced the first close of its new €500 million fundraising. In this funding round, the original investing partners in Activate, the…

January 18, 2018

Park House, an exclusive scheme of 25 large contemporary townhouses and apartments in Baldoyle, Dubiln 13, has launched this week. Brought to the market by Homeland Projects through agent Kelly Walsh, Activate Capital is delighted to be funding development of the scheme. The Irish Independent recently ran a piece on the development. Download Brochure

November 1, 2017

3 developments funded by Activate Capital have pre-launched recently. The developer is Homeland Projects and the schemes are: Stanford Park – an exclusive development of 15 houses on Westminster Road, Foxrock Camberley Mews – a unique development of 9 new homes in the heart of Churchtown Village Park House – exclusive scheme of 25 large contemporary…

October 12, 2017

Millerstown, Kilcock will be launched over the coming weeks by McGarrell Reilly – this is an exceptional development of large 3, 4 and 5 bedroom houses on the Maynooth Road, funded by Activate Capital.

October 12, 2017

Clonrath, Lusk, a development of traditional 3, 4 and 5 bedroom homes in Lusk, Co. Dublin will be launched over the coming weeks – this is another high quality development by McGarrell Reilly funded by Activate Capital.

October 3, 2017

Activate Capital recently commissioned Ronan Lyons, Assistant Professor of Economics in Trinity College Dublin, to analyse the Irish housing market and to provide specific insights into the need or otherwise of apartments as part of the solution to the current and acute shortage of housing stock. Attached to this post is the final report. Ronan…

September 18, 2017

Strong start to the Autumn 2017 selling season with a significant number of developments successfully launching last week – amongst those developments are The Willows, Dunshaughlin by Gem Group and Carton Grove, Maynooth, both of which have been built with funding from Activate Capital.

July 7, 2017

Irish Times coverage of the agreement between Activate and Cairn Homes for funding of Montrose acquisition: http://www.irishtimes.com/business/construction/cairn-homes-secures-50m-loan-for-montrose-site-purchase-1.3144013

July 5, 2017

Last week, the Activate Capital team donned the lycra in support of a very worthwhile cause. Thanks to WK Nowlan for putting on a great night and raising over €20,000 for CMRF in the process. https://cmrf.org/ http://www.wkn.ie/battle-bikes-duplicate-2017/

April 12, 2017

An interesting report from John Doddy’s team in Deloitte Debt Advisory on the options available for residential development funding in Ireland. https://www2.deloitte.com/ie/en/pages/deloitte-private/articles/residential-development-funding-landscape.html

January 18, 2017

Twinlite are happy to announce the acquisition of a new site at Castlepark Road, Dalkey, Co. Dublin. The 3.14 acre site is located adjacent to the Castle Park School, one of the finest elementary schools in Ireland. The design for the site is being developed with architects McCauley Daye O’Connell and details will be…

January 3, 2017

Some interesting early New Year commentaries on the housing market from Goodbody Stockbrokers and Daft.ie: http://www.independent.ie/opinion/comment/vacant-site-levy-should-be-coveneys-new-years-resolution-for-housing-35336924.html http://www.daft.ie/report/q4-2016-daft-house-price-report-2016.pdf

November 24, 2016

The long-awaited review of the macro prudential rules was published yesterday. While surprising, the modest loosening of the rules appear sensible and take account of the some of the unintended consequences of the original design. Surprising easing of macro prudential mortgage rules… After an extensive evidence-based review of the macro prudential mortgage rules first introduced…

October 14, 2016

Below is a link to a recent thought leadership piece by Activate Capital’s CFO, Emmet O’Reilly, on the diversity of funding required to drive growth in the development of houses and apartments in Ireland. Finance-Magazine-Article

October 6, 2016

State-backed Activate Capital funding development of 1,200 homes Residential finance provider Activate Capital has now committed funding for sites in the greater Dublin area with the capacity to build 1,200 new homes. Activate Capital is a joint venture between the State-controlled Ireland Strategic Investment Fund and global investment firm KKR. The sites are a mix…

September 27, 2016

New Irish housing statistics have been released today for the first time. Price data now incorporates cash purchases for the first time, thus giving us a more comprehensive picture of the market (cash purchases have consistently been c.50% of purchases over recent years). New information on regional price movements, average house prices and transactions also…

September 6, 2016

The positive trend in mortgage approvals in Ireland continued in July, with the latest lending data from the Banking and Payments Federation this morning showing an increase in both value and volume across the board. The total value of mortgages approved grew by 24% yoy in July. While this is slower than the growth achieved…

July 22, 2016

July 15, 2016

The first batch of data from the April 2016 Census of population in Ireland has been published today. Given its comprehensiveness, the Census, performed every five years, provides the most detailed and accurate picture of structural developments in the Irish population. The data confirms the ongoing demographic advantage that Ireland has over the rest…

November 29, 2015

Rating agency Moody’s believes population growth and economic recovery in Ireland will continue to drive housing demand and property prices for some time to come. In a report, the agency cites a projected fall-off in the number of 25-35 year-olds here as an unfavourable development for housing demand. However, it says the demographic changes will…

November 4, 2015

After much debate, speculation and disagreement over recent months, the Irish government finally unveiled its policies to deal with problems in the Irish housing market yesterday. See our summary and views below, while the full document is here. The measures can be divided into two distinct categories: (i) supply incentives, and; (ii) rental sector policies.…

November 4, 2015

The Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (“ISIF“), managed by the National Treasury Management Agency (“NTMA“), together with KKR Credit, have today announced the launch of a new €500 million joint venture, which transforms the funding options available to the Irish house building sector and will be capable of financing the construction of over 11,000 new homes…